Granada

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the community of Andalusia, Spain. It is situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of two rivers, Darro and Genil, at an elevation of 738 metres above sea level. At the 2003 census, the population of the city of Granada proper was 237,663, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 450,439, ranking as the 13th-largest urban area of the Spanish Kingdom. About 3.3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these (31%) coming from South America.

History

Pre-Nasrid

The city has been inhabited from the dawn of history. There was an Ibero-Celtic settlement here, which made contact in turn with Phoenecians, Carthagenians and Greeks. By the 5th century BCE, the Greeks had established a colony which they named "Elybirge". Under Roman rule, in the early centuries CE, this name had become "Ilíberis". The Visigoths maintained the importance of the city as a centre of both ecclesiastical and civil administration and also established it as a military stronghold.

Related Topics:
Ibero-Celt - Phoenecian - Carthagenians - Greek - 5th century BCE - Roman - Visigoth

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A Jewish community established itself in what was effectively a suburb of the city, called

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"Gárnata" or "Gárnata al-yahud" (Granada of the Jews). It was with the help of this community that Moorish forces under Tariq ibn-Ziyad first took the city in 711, though it was not fully secured until 713. They gave it the name "Ilbira", the remaining Christian community calling this "Elvira", and it became the capital of a province of the Caliphate of Cordoba. Civil conflicts that wracked the Caliphate in the early 11th century led to the destruction of the city in 1010. In the subsequent reconstruction, the suburb of Gárnata was incorporated in the city, and the modern name in fact derives from this. With the arrival of the Zirid dynasty in 1013, Granada became an independent kingdom. By the end of the 11th century, the city had spread across the Darro to reach what is now the site of the Alhambra.

Related Topics:
Tariq ibn-Ziyad - 711 - 713 - Caliphate of Cordoba - 11th century - 1010 - Zirid - 1013

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Moorish Sultanate and Kingdom of Granada

From 1232 to 1492, Granada (Arabic ?????? ?arn?ṭah) was the seat of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled the sultanate (until 1238) and kingdom from the mid 13th century to the 15th century, one of the longest-lasting Islamic dynasties in the history of al-Andalus. The Nasrid sultans and kings were responsible for building most of the palaces in the Alhambra.

Related Topics:
1232 - 1492 - Arabic - Nasrid dynasty - 1238 - 13th century - 15th century - Al-Andalus - Alhambra

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The city became the seat of the Nasrid kingdom (taifa) in 1238, when the Moors retreated during the Christian reconquest of Spain. The kingdom of Granada linked the commercial routes from Europe to Africa crossing the Sahara. The nation constantly shrunk, and by 1492, it was only a small nation on the southeastern coast. This was the most converted area in the country, in fact, Granada has been described as the first Muslim nation to be completely Muslim - though the description can only have been approximately true, since a Jewish population remained in the city throughout the Moorish era.

Related Topics:
Taifa - 1238 - Christian - Reconquest - Kingdom of Granada - Sahara - 1492

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The most prominent members of the dynasty are:

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• Ibn al-Ahmar (died 1273), the first of the line
• Yusuf I (1334-1354)
• Muhammed V (1354-1391, builder of the royal palace within the Alhambra
• Boabdil, the last of the line, who was defeated and deposed in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabel

See Nasrid dynasty for a full list of the Nasrid rulers of Granada.

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On the 2nd of January 1492, the Moors surrendered to the Spanish, and the kingdom was incorporated into Castile. The fall of Granada holds an important place among the many significant events that mark the latter half of the 15th century. It ended, after an existence of eight hundred years, the Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula, and thus formed an offset to the progress of the Muslim power in Eastern Europe and the loss to the Christian world of Constantinople. It advanced Spain to the first rank among the nations of Europe, and gave her arms a prestige that secured for her position, influence, and deference long after the decline of her power had commenced.

Related Topics:
2nd of January - 1492 - Moors - Castile - 15th century - Iberian Peninsula - Eastern Europe - Constantinople - Spain - Europe

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